Ohio Supreme Court Strikes a Blow to Planned Parenthood in Upholding Regulation of...

Ohio Supreme Court Strikes a Blow to Planned Parenthood in Upholding
Regulation of 'Abortion Pill'

CHICAGO, July 2 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Pro-life forces won an important
battle yesterday when the Ohio Supreme Court ruled to uphold a state law
regulating that abortion centers must properly follow FDA guidelines in
administering RU-486 (also known as the "abortion pill") in order to protect
the health of women using the drug.

The ruling came in Rogers v. Planned Parenthood, a challenge by Planned
Parenthood to a 2004 law requiring that those administering RU-486 comply with
the FDA-approved treatment protocol for the "abortion pill" and, consistent
with the drug's safety and efficacy data, restrict its use to pregnancies at
or under 49 days gestation. In short, the law simply requires abortionists to
abide by the protocol approved by the FDA when it first made RU-486 available
in the United States in September 2000.

Dr. Charmaine Yoest, AUL President & CEO said, "We applaud the Ohio Supreme
Court for cutting through Planned Parenthood's self-serving rhetoric that it
did not need to follow the protocol tested and approved by the FDA when
administering RU-486. For far too long, Planned Parenthood and its enablers
have thought themselves above the law. Today the Ohio Supreme Court put a
decisive end to that."

Americans United for Life (AUL) filed an amicus brief in the case on behalf of
several U.S. Representatives supporting the State and the law. AUL's amicus
brief, filed on behalf of House Minority Leader John Boehner (Ohio) and nine
U.S. Representatives -- Roscoe Bartlett (Md.), Dan Burton (Ind.), Steve Chabot
(Ohio), Trent Franks (Ariz.), Jim Jordan (Ohio), Robert E. Latta (Ohio),
Joseph R. Pitts (Pa.), Jean Schmidt (Ohio), and Chris Smith (N.J.) -- is
available at
http://www.aul.org/xm_client/client_documents/briefs/Rogers_v_PlannedParenthood.pdf.

AUL Staff Counsel Mailee Smith said, "The fact that Planned Parenthood readily
admits to routinely disregarding the FDA-approved protocol and actually argued
it was entitled to dispense RU-486 in an untested and dangerous manner is
appalling. It is further confirmation that Planned Parenthood is not the
protector of women's health and welfare it holds itself out to be."

Planned Parenthood argued the law was unconstitutional and that its
requirements were unclear. The State of Ohio and AUL argued that the Ohio law
is definitive in its requirement that abortionists can use the RU-486 drug
regimen only in the way in which it was tested and approved by the FDA, as is
clearly laid out in the manufacturer's label that accompanies the drug.

The case will now return to the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals for a decision
of whether the statute, as interpreted by the Ohio Supreme Court, is
constitutional.

About Americans United for Life
Americans United for Life (AUL) is a nonprofit, public-interest law and policy
organization whose vision is a nation in which everyone is welcomed in life
and protected in law. The first national pro-life organization in America,
AUL has been committed to defending human life through vigorous judicial,
legislative, and educational efforts at both the federal and state levels
since 1971. The Wall Street Journal has profiled AUL, and PBS' Frontline
program chronicled AUL's successful efforts in Mississippi.

SOURCE Americans United for Life

Heather Smith of AUL, +1-202-270-9962, Heather.Smith@aul.org